


Baby Mine

by NoisyNoiverns



Category: Mass Effect (Comics), Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Reapers, F/M, Family Fluff, New Family, Newborn Children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 04:10:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11820957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoisyNoiverns/pseuds/NoisyNoiverns
Summary: Desolas and Abrudas spend some time fawning over their newborn daughter.





	Baby Mine

Valis was cooing when Desolas walked into their apartment.

Not even a month ago, Desolas wouldn't have thought that noise could have come out of her unless it was sarcastic, but there she was, pacing idly and making low, affectionate little chirrups at the bundle of blankets in her arms. "Who's Mommy's bestest little girl?" she was saying, in that syrupy voice that Desolas had considered the most annoying thing in the world until his own wife had used it to speak to their own daughter. "It's Tanni! Tanni is Mommy's bestest little girl!"

A lump rose in his throat, watching her. They'd been so worried about how having a baby would turn out that they'd almost changed their minds. There were so many variables to consider, and any one of them could destroy everything. Now, Taniria was barely three Palaven weeks old, and it was hard to believe they'd ever doubted. Sure, there was the constant fear that something terrible might happen, and Valis still fretted that her memory problems might make her an unfit mother, and the pressing anxiety that they were doing everything wrong. But then there were the little moments like this, when the baby was happy and giggling up at her mother, and nothing whatsoever was happening, and all that seemed to melt away. The baby was fine. They were fine. Everything was and would continue to be just fine.

Valis noticed him then, and lifted her mandibles before looking back to the baby. "Who's that?" she cooed, turning so Taniria could peer out of her swaddling at him. "Is that Daddy? Is Daddy home?"

Taniria, for her part, chittered and burbled in recognition. Desolas's heart warmed as he crossed the room towards them, his own mandibles lifting high and out. "Hi, Tanni!" he chirred, leaning in so his head touched Valis's and he could loop an arm around her back to rest a hand on her bicep. "Were you good for Mommy?"

Valis leaned into his side-hug, nuzzling the side of his neck. "She's been perfect," she purred. "Just woke up from her nap, actually. You missed it, she was trying to put her foot in her mouth, it was _adorable."_

He purred and rubbed his jaw along the top of her head. "Maybe she'll try again later," he suggested. "Right now, though, I brought you something."

"Ooh, right, food." She fluttered her mandibles, picked up her head, and craned her neck to see the bag in his other hand. "Whadja bring me?"

He grinned and moved away from her, motioning for her to follow as he headed into the kitchen. "Parnitak takeout from that place a few streets down," he mused, setting the bag on the counter. "Your usual, of course, with some extra for Tanni."

She leaned against the counter, watching him pull little containers of food out and set them aside. "Did you remember to ask for the sauce on the side?"

He held up a small bowl of hot sauce in front of her nose. "Ta-daa." Normally, Valis liked her food drizzled with the stuff, but having an infant to feed necessitated keeping it separate, so the baby could have her fill from her mother's gullet without any unwanted flavors. "And, since I was out anyway..."

"Oh, no." Valis's subvocals were an even _amused-exasperated_  mix. "What did you find?"

He just winked at her, then went back to the bag. "Well, I _was_  looking for new gloves for Saren, his were looking frayed and I _know_  he won't replace them until the last possible second, but then I found..." His hand met soft plush, and he seized it triumphantly. "This."

He held up his prize so both Valis and Taniria could see. The toy pyjak was bigger than Tanni was now -- its body alone was the size of her, and the arms and legs were just as long. It was a simple toy, with big, button eyes and barely enough stuffing. The fur (did pyjaks even _have_  fur? Desolas couldn't remember) was long enough for a pleasant texture, but short enough Taniria probably wouldn't be able to entirely bury her face in it.

Taniria, to her credit, trilled with delight, though it was probably more over the color of the toy's fur than actually understanding what it was. Babies were dumb like that. Tiny hands stretched out of the baby blanket, grasping with stubby talons. She chattered rapidly, not in any real language, but wordless noise that turians could understand on instinct: _I want it!_

Valis simply groaned and rolled her eyes. "You're going to spoil her."

"Aw, come on, babe." He held the toy just out of the baby's reach, wiggling it back and forth to entice her. "She isn't even a year old yet."

As Taniria squealed and reached for the pyjak even more insistently, Valis watched, and eventually her mandibles lifted. "I guess we _should_  enjoy her being little while we can, shouldn't we?" she cooed, bouncing the baby gently. "While she's still so _cute,_  and before she grows up and listens to her music too loud and dates only people who'll make Daddy mad, huh, Tanni?"

Desolas chuckled and finally set the toy down on top of Taniria, leaning against Valis slightly and watching as the baby chirped and hugged the thing close. "If you say it out loud, it'll happen sooner."

They stood like that for a minute, gazing down at their daughter as she snuggled against the soft new _thing_  she'd just discovered. Desolas kept his subvocals gentle -- Taniria's cowl was still delicate, after all. But his own thrummed _love-contentment_ , and resonated with Valis's as she did the same. There would be plenty of time for worry about Taniria's future later. Right now, all that mattered was the infant curled in Valis's arms, and how utterly perfect she was.

Somewhere in the apartment, a chime went off, and just like that, the spell was broken. Valis jerked her head up, then shook it and glanced at him. "That'll be mine. Can you take her? She hates the noise it makes."

"Yeah, sure." He held out his arms, and Valis shifted the bundle of baby, blanket, and toy over to him before darting off as quickly as her bad leg would allow.

Taniria started to yowl after her, but quieted when Desolas hastily pried open a container of food. She must have recognized the smell coming out, because she immediately parted her jaws and started peeping.

Desolas chuckled and tapped her nasal plates. "Be patient, Tiny," he cooed. "It's Mommy's turn to feed you tonight. You get some of my midnight snack, how's that sound?"

Unfortunately, she was still too young to understand what he was saying, so she just peeped more fiercely, now trying to snap her stumpy mandibles for added effect.

He sighed ruefully and shook his head. "You're gonna be just like your uncle," he mused, reaching for one of Valis's containers so he could divvy out a portion for Taniria. "Do me a favor and stay cute for a little bit longer, huh?"


End file.
